Background Information

In 1979, Kick Records put together a 12”-vinyl compilation of tracks from new and upcoming bands. This included “Stories for Boys’ recorded by U2, and also “Something’s Better than Nothing” by the Teen Commandments, which featured Edge on guitar. The version of “Stories for Boys” released here has been labelled as a “remix” over the years, but is indeed an early demo recording of the song. The version on “Just for Kicks” is close to the recording released on “Three” but has louder drums in the mix and the song doesn’t fade in, and has a slightly longer ending with additional percussion. The version of the song found here on “Just for Kicks” was only available here for years, until 2004 when “The Complete U2” was released on iTunes. There was a mistake made in that compilation for iTunes, and the version of the song from “Just for Kicks” was used for the “Three” EP on the online compilation. This version of the song from “Just for Kicks” was also used on the deluxe remasters of “Boy” released in 2008, instead of the proper version from “Three”

The other song which included U2 involvement was “Something’s Better Than Nothing” by The Teen Commandments. The Teen Commandments were a Dublin “Super Group” featuring a group of artists from various bands, including the Edge. In the summer of 1979 they gathered at Lombard studio in Dublin to record three tracks, “My Baby Left Me”, “Private World” and “Somethings Better than Nothing”. The Edge only performed on two songs, “Somethings Better Than Nothing” and “My Baby Left Me”. On both tracks he played guitar, and not bass as has been suggested in error over the years. The version of “Somethings Better than Nothing” recorded that day was released here. “Private World” was released as a single in 1981 under The Teen Commandments name, but did not feature the Edge on the recording. The final track “My Baby Left Me” did feature the Edge and was released later, on a compilation entitled “Vinyl Verdict”. All three tracks were recorded under the name “The Reasons”, but all three saw the light of day under the eventual name “The Teen Commandments” which was the group that Phil Byrne and Dave Moloney would go on to form after The Reasons.

The compilation was released on vinyl only, and featured tracks from twelve different Dublin bands. None are around today save for U2. The compilation was released around the same time as “Three”, making it one of U2’s earliest releases and the first appearance on a compilation outside of one of their own releases. It is also the earliest recording featuring a solo performance by a member of U2.